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Home · News

These Are the Victims' Names Of The Texas Church Shooting

These Are the Victims’ Names Of The Texas Church Shooting
Stringer/Reuters
By Mahita Gajanan · Updated October 26, 2020
At least 26 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on a church in a rural community in Texas Sunday, law enforcement officials said. The gunman, identified by officials to the Associated Press as Devin Kelley, shot churchgoers at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, a small town located in Wilson County. At least 20 others were injured in the attack and taken to local hospitals. Of the 26 people who died, 23 were found dead inside the church, while two people were found outside. One person died after being transferred to a local hospital, authorities said during a press conference Sunday. Among those killed was the 14-year-old daughter of First Baptist Church’s pastor Frank Pomeroy, her mother Sherri Pomeroy told the AP. The couple was out of town during the shooting. The victims’ ages, including those who died and those who were injured, range from 5 to 72-years-old, Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt said. The attack, which has become one of the most deadly mass shootings in recent U.S. history, comes just a month after a shooter opened fire on a crowd at a concert in Las Vegas, killing 58 people. The suspected gunman was chased from the scene and later found dead in his vehicle, officials said during the press conference. It is unclear how he died.

Annabelle Pomeroy, 14

Fourteen-year-old Annabelle Pomeroy was among the 26 killed in Sunday’s church attack, her father told ABC News. Frank Pomeroy is the pastor of the First Baptist Church and said he and his wife Sherri Pomeroy were out of town when the gunman opened fire on his congregation. Annabelle is his youngest daughter. Frank Pomeroy said Annabelle “was one very beautiful, special child.” Her mother Sherri said in a statement to AP: “We lost our 14-year-old daughter today and many friends.” Her uncle Scott Pomeroy posted a tribute to Facebook, saying “Heaven truly gained a real beautiful angel this morning along with many more.”

Heaven truly gained a real beautiful angel this morning along with many more. I lost a lot of friends and family this...

Posted by Scott Pomeroy on Sunday, November 5, 2017

Crystal Holcombe, Marc Daniel Holcombe, Noah Holcombe, Karla Holcombe and Bryan Holcombe

At least eight members of an extended family were killed on Sunday. Crystal Holcombe, three of her children, and her in-laws, Karla, Marc, Noah and Bryan Holcombe, were among those killed in Sunday’s church attack. Crystal, who was eight months pregnant, died with her unborn child and three of her children, Emily, Megan and Greg, the Washington Post reports. Her husband, John Holcombe, survived with two of her other children. Bryan Holcombe, who was an associate pastor in the church, was walking up to the pulpit when Kelley opened fire. His parents, Joe and Claryce Holcombe, told the Post that John was killed in the shooting along with his wife Karla. Bryan and Karla’s 26-year-old son, Marc Daniel Holcombe, was killed with his infant daughter, Noah Holcombe. “This is unimaginable. My father was a good man, and he loved to preach. He had a good heart,” Scott Holcombe, Bryan’s son told the New York Times. Nick Uhlig, Crystal’s cousin who was not at the church when the gunman opened fire, told AP that Bryan did prison ministry and would sing and play the ukulele for prison inmates. This post will be updated as more victims are identified. This article originally appeared on Time.
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